Replacement of the femtosecond laser in the THz spectroscopic microscopy laboratory

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THz imaging constitutes one of the principal research directions of Prof. Skorobogatiy Canada Research Chair I in Ubiquitous THz photonics. Replacement of the failing femtosecond laser is absolutely essential for the success of his internationally recognized research program in THz imaging. The failing pump laser makes the core of Prof. Skorobogatiy THz imaging laboratory and further progress of his group in this vibrant field will be impossible without replacement of the above-mentioned equipment. Over the past 5 years Prof. Skorobogatiy has developed a world class highly publicized and innovative research program in THz imaging that resulted in many high-impact publications, discovery of new imaging techniques, and pursuit of several commercialization opportunities. The imminent failure of the pump laser comes at a critical time for his group that is currently transitioning from the THz imaging demonstrators to an industrial-strength real-time super-resolution spectroscopic microscopy system. Such systems can have a significant impact on various applied fields including biomedical imaging and diagnostics, non-destructive quality control and monitoring, as well security and environmental industries. More specifically, the requested laser is in the core of Prof. Skorobogatiy effort in THz super-resolution solid immersion spectral microscopy. Together with advanced solid immersion lens designs (using high dielectric index materials and metamaterials), as well as advanced instrumentation (fast rotary delay lines, non-mechanical beam steering), he aims at realizing record-breaking THz microscopes in terms of spatial and spectral resolutions, as well as image acquisition time. The application of such microscopes are limitless with the most recent demonstrations from Prof. Skorobogatiy and his collaborators being in cancer margin discrimination in live tissues, as well as direct measurement of material complex dielectric constant with deeply subwavelength spatial resolution. Last, but not least, mentoring opportunities related to the use of the requested equipment will provide a high-quality training environment by promoting multidisciplinary projects of high socio-economic impact within a collaborative training environment. Multidisciplinary will ensure that HQPs in training will learn and practice a variety of the state-of-the-art techniques using world-class infrastructure for THz spectroscopy and imaging, as well as additive manufacturing and advanced material synthesis. Collaborative training environment is ensured by the extensive international network of researchers participating in the research program. Finally, socio-economic impact of conducted research is expected to be high, with trained HQPs able to market their skills immediately upon graduation. This is because the domains of material's characterization, as well as industrial and medical imaging are in rapid development all over the world, and Canada and Quebec, in particular.